Hey, the Dallas Mavericks are Finally Winners!

Where were you on October  11, 1980? I was inside Reunion Arena, watching the Dallas Mavericks and guys like Winford Boynes and Tom LaGarde somehow beat George Gervin and the San Antonio Spurs, 103-92, in their inaugural game as an NBA franchise. At 1-0 – at least for a night…

Jerry Jones: 60 Minutes of Sympathy

I know he takes a lot of shit and he deserves most of it. But the one thing you can’t deny is the passion of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. It was on full display again during Sunday night’s 60 Minutes story on CBS. At one point Jones’ eyes were…

Eagles 30, Cowboys 27: My Top 10 Observer-ations

10. DeSean Jackson is fun to watch, and so easy to hate. After his 91-yard catch-and-run touchdown he stopped at the 1 and slowly fell backward into the end zone. Where’s George Teague when you need him? 9. At 4-9 the Cowboys are officially losers (for the first time since ’04)…

Jerry Jones and the “Season From Hell”

In case you missed it, here’s the entirety of last night’s 60 Minutes segment about the Dallas Cowboys’ owner and general manager. The takeaway: Jerry Jones thinks he’s “smarter” now as GM than he was when he bought the team. Oh, really? Really. On the other side, a bonus “overtime”…

Cliff Lee is Going, Going, Going … Gone?

This doesn’t look good. The New York Yankees make free-agent pitcher Cliff Lee an offer of six years between $140-$150 million. (UPDATE: How about a seventh year?!) Lee’s agent, Darek Brauneker, puts the offer in his briefcase, leaves baseball’s winter meetings early and flies to Arkansas to present the deal to…

Avery Johnson Returns: To Boo or Not to Boo?

He led the Dallas Mavericks to their 30-year apex. He Instilled defense and discipline into a franchise that had forever languished with an offensive philosophy. He orchestrated the best regular-season in team history. He was the NBA’s Coach of the Year. And he took them within 2 1/4 games of an NBA championship. On the…

Sad to See Eric Nadel Not Win … and Leave

On a professional note, too bad Texas Rangers’ iconic voice Eric Nadel didn’t win the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting this morning at baseball’s winter meetings. He was edged out by Dave Van Horne, who’s been calling games (for Expos and now the Marlins) for 42 years. On…

NFL Quarterback Rankings: Week 14

Like the BCS, style points count. So do geeky, black-and-white stats such as touchdowns and quarterback ratings. Wins and losses? Definitely. Leadership? Uh-huh. When it comes to my weekly NFL Quarterback Rankings — if I had one of those little encircled R’s to signify a trademarked idea, it’d go here — the…

Time To Hire Jason Garrett Full-Time: Right Now

I’ve seen enough. You? If Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced the hiring of Jason Garrett today as permanent head coach, I’d be fine with it. Elated, actually. It won’t happen of course, in part because of the NFL’s Rooney Rule that requires teams to interview at least one minority…

Let’s Get Cliff Lee … AND Zack Greinke

Is that doable? Seems like it. Although the Kansas City Royals are reportedly getting impatient with the Texas Rangers’ low-ball offers. I understand the odds are against the Rangers getting Lee, who is now also talking to the Boston Red Sox. But – dream with me here a little -…

Dirk, Dallas Doing It Again. But Even Better.

After Dirk Nowitzki’s one-legged, fadeaway, high-arcing, 18-foot shot – off the glass, no less – Friday night in Utah, TV analyst Hubie Brown was almost speechless. “C’mon!’ he exclaimed. “Some of the things this guy does at seven feet is just unfair.” Nowitzki was again brilliant over the weekend, helping…

Turn Out the Lights: Don Meredith Dies

Very sad news. One of my first/favorite memories as a snotty-nosed little kid was sitting atop Dad’s shoulders at the Cotton Bowl, watching Bob Hayes race under beautiful bombs from a Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback named Don Meredith. Meredith, by way of Mount Vernon and SMU, was a two-time Pro Bowl pick…

Why Your Texas Rangers Must Sign Cliff Lee

I know he was miserable in Game 1 of the World Series and mediocre in Game 5, but the Texas Rangers wouldn’t have been to the Fall Classic in the first place without pitcher Cliff Lee. As baseball’s winter meetings start today at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista,…